CVE-2017-18689
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAn issue was discovered on Samsung mobile devices with M(6.0) and N(7.0) (Exynos5433, Exynos7420, or Exynos7870 chipsets) software. An attacker can bypass a ko (aka Kernel Module) signature by modifying the count of kernel modules. The Samsung ID is SVE-2016-7466 (January 2017).
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThis vulnerability allows bypassing kernel module (ko) signature verification on affected Samsung mobile devices by modifying the kernel module count. The signature bypass enables loading of unsigned or malicious kernel modules, granting attackers kernel-level code execution privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 6.0= 7.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Android OS versionNavigate to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADBAffected if Version is 6.0 (Marshmallow) or 7.0 (Nougat)
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Identify the chipset/processorRun 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' via ADB to identify the SoC; check if it matches Exynos5433, Exynos7420, or Exynos7870Affected if Device uses any of the three affected Exynos chipset variants
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Verify Samsung security patch levelRun 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB, or check Settings > About Phone > Security patch levelAffected if Security patch level is dated January 2017 or earlier, or the field is empty/unavailable
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Confirm device vendor and modelRun 'getprop ro.product manufacturer' and 'getprop ro.product model' via ADB, or check Settings > About Phone > Model numberAffected if Device is a Samsung model with Exynos chipset running Android 6.0 or 7.0
A device is likely affected if it is a Samsung mobile device with an Exynos5433, Exynos7420, or Exynos7870 chipset running Android 6.0 or 7.0 with a security patch level older than the January 2017 Samsung release.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply Samsung security patches released after January 2017; enterprise environments should ensure mobile device management (MDM) policies enforce OS/firmware updates on devices with Exynos5433, Exynos7420, or Exynos7870 chipsets running Android M or N.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18689 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-18689 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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